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Old 06-27-2016, 06:48 AM
 
Location: Ft. Myers
19,719 posts, read 16,688,144 times
Reputation: 41861

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Not sure why some people think this is so wrong or unusual. If you wreck your car and take it to a body shop for repairs, they do not let you have it back until either you pay or the insurance company pays. Or, if you go into a grocery store, you do not walk out the door with your purchase until it is paid for. Same with clothes, or anything else you buy.

Think about it, if you were a mechanic, did a lot of work to a car, paid for parts to go on it, would you let some stranger drive off without the bill being settled ? The days of living in Mayberry, where Bubba , the mechanic, let you come in with egg money every week until your bill was paid, are long gone.

I don't even get to sleep at a hotel until I give them my credit card info, so why should this be any different ?

Don
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Old 06-27-2016, 10:23 AM
 
8,071 posts, read 9,985,879 times
Reputation: 22604
$150.....


Offer to let him keep the hub caps or floor mats until you come back to pay. See how it goes.
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Old 06-27-2016, 11:37 AM
 
Location: Raleigh
13,623 posts, read 12,242,954 times
Reputation: 20013
Quote:
Originally Posted by bande1102 View Post
As for the dry cleaner reference, my dry cleaner brings me my clothes and THEN I pay. While I'm familiar with the automatic attachment of a mechanic's lien, I've never heard of anything like that for a dry cleaner.

While I know that the mechanic lien is automatic for "authorized" (talk about ambiguous term) work, it shouldn't be.
Right...And if you take them out without paying, you will be arrested for theft. Same as gassing up and driving away. And if you tried to take it out without paying I don't know they would let you.

Different states have different rules for Mechanic's liens on personal property.
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Old 06-27-2016, 01:20 PM
 
2,994 posts, read 5,550,197 times
Reputation: 4690
Quote:
Originally Posted by magusat999 View Post
First of all I don't have this problem... just something I am wondering about.

So a mechanic does some work on your $50,000.00 car. You owe him $150.00. He holds your car hostage until you pay. does he really have the right to hold $50,00.00 worth of your assets to secure $150.00 in payment due - or is this just an implied "right" because most people don't challenge it? Supposedly they can put a lien against your car for their money - but why is there the right to put a lien against something if they have the right to keep it until you pay? What is their real legal right here? It can't be both "I can keep your car until you pay" and "I can put a lien against your car until you pay"... can it? Sounds a little over kill, and also the penalty is way out of proportion to the amount owed.
You have a $50,000 car and can't pay $150? Well i guess that's how you can afford a $50k car because you don't pay your bills lol
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Old 06-27-2016, 01:43 PM
 
23,177 posts, read 12,041,604 times
Reputation: 29347
Quote:
Originally Posted by bande1102 View Post
I'm with you, OP. I don't think it fair that the mechanic can hold a $50,000 vehicle for a bill worth 1/10th of that.

Mechanics should have to do what the rest of us do when a customer doesn't pay the bill---take them to court.

Don't even get me started on tow truck drivers.
The point is... possession is nine points of the law. He who has physical custody is in the driver seat, most of the time. No matter which side of the transaction you are on.

You can almost never use physical violence to effect a change in physical custody. You can take them to court. You might even win. In the meantime, the wheels of justice grind slowly. Probably several months or more.
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Old 06-27-2016, 01:53 PM
 
Location: Fuquay Varina
6,414 posts, read 9,721,865 times
Reputation: 18269
Quote:
Originally Posted by eddie1278 View Post
You have a $50,000 car and can't pay $150? Well i guess that's how you can afford a $50k car because you don't pay your bills lol
If you read the op you would know it's a scenario, not a problem the op is having.
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Old 06-27-2016, 02:00 PM
 
2,126 posts, read 3,549,186 times
Reputation: 3386
Quote:
Originally Posted by SVTLightning View Post
If you read the op you would know it's a scenario, not a problem the op is having.
Perhaps it is a problem the OP is considering.

Don in Austin
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Old 06-27-2016, 02:17 PM
 
258 posts, read 343,751 times
Reputation: 559
Quote:
Originally Posted by don1945 View Post
Not sure why some people think this is so wrong or unusual. If you wreck your car and take it to a body shop for repairs, they do not let you have it back until either you pay or the insurance company pays. Or, if you go into a grocery store, you do not walk out the door with your purchase until it is paid for. Same with clothes, or anything else you buy.

Think about it, if you were a mechanic, did a lot of work to a car, paid for parts to go on it, would you let some stranger drive off without the bill being settled ? The days of living in Mayberry, where Bubba , the mechanic, let you come in with egg money every week until your bill was paid, are long gone.

I don't even get to sleep at a hotel until I give them my credit card info, so why should this be any different ?

Don
You're using the wrong example, or at least an example where your point seems more credible. You're talking about a mechanic literally rebuilding a car. They turned a car of $0 value into a new car worth some money. What we are talking about instead is a minor repair by a mechanic. And there are valid reasons why you would refuse to pay - not necessarily that you have to be a scumbag.

For example, you can have a dispute with the mechanic on what was agreed upon, or over inflated charges, or the mechanic fixing stuff you never told him to do. Say, he went and fixed something (of say, $100 value) without confirming with you first. And you felt it was not necessary, or that you even had the part in your house, and were planning to do it yourself.

Disputes happen every day in every form of business. And there are ways and channels to handle them. But it is not an excuse for the other party to hold your (far more valuable than the dispute amount) equipment hostage.

Your mechanic does not hold the car title, and there was no legal transfer of ownership to the mechanic. In my books, if they keep the car hostage, they should be charged with theft. And the disputed amount should be handled separately.

I cannot even believe that people on this thread feel that it is okay for a mechanic to illegally keep someone's car following a dispute.

A loan company seizes a car due to non-payment because they legally hold the car title. Legally, the car belongs to them. This is certainly not true for a car mechanic.
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Old 06-27-2016, 02:30 PM
 
Location: Billings, MT
9,885 posts, read 10,887,466 times
Reputation: 14180
Read the fine print on the repair order you signed to authorize the work.
You know, that paragraph at the bottom right above the signature block, the one that almost nobody reads?
If it is like many repair orders, you are not only authorizing the shop to do the work, you are acknowledging that the shop has the right to place a Mechanic's Lien on your vehicle if the work is not paid for!
Yep, YOU are telling the shop "If I don't pay for your work, you can keep my vehicle and sell it!" Depending on the laws in your state, they might have to give you any excess funds (if they sell it for more than you owe), or you might wind up having to pay them more if they sell it for less than you owe. Or, the law might state that once they sell it they are done with you.
Be careful what you sign. ALWAYS read it before signing!
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Old 06-27-2016, 02:36 PM
 
4,236 posts, read 8,078,191 times
Reputation: 10208
$50k vehicle and the owner can't pay $150 better call Money Mutual!
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